Golf tee and practice device



Dec. 2, 1958 H. A. SMITH cow TEE AND PRACTICE DEVICE Filed March 14, 1956 E N J a M Z IN V EN TOR. /l

J9me] 5. .snr/rh' earn TEE AND .BRACT-ICE DEVICE Harry AuSrnithjfOakHilhN. Y. Application March .14, .1956, S.erial-,1No. 511,548 5 Claims. rel. evs iss This invention relates to a golf tee and practice device.

2,862,714 Patented Dec. 2, L958 line of flight. Furthermore, since the club head is swinging on a curve as it approaches the ball, this curve must be substantially tangent to said vertical plane at the point of impact of the club with theball.

More particularly, it comprises .an-integral =unit device a formed of flexible material having a base portion to rest upon the ground,-and a portion upstanding-from the base forming aball support, the base including anrelongated .arrow, 'or:,comet-li ke tail, extending, from agzone adjacent and symmetrically disposed with respect-to the ball indicating one edge of the approximate path overwhich the club should pass in order properly to drive the ball from the tee.

I am well aware that various types of golf tees, practice mats and practice charts heretofore have appeared in the patented and other literature. However, such devices are of different construction, often unwieldy and cumbersome, and otherwise intended diflerently to be used than the present invention.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a small golf tee and practice device which is economicof manufacture, which can be used as a practice device for swinging or stroking golf clubs, from the woods down through the irons to the putter, which can also be used as a driving tee during a game, and which can easily be folded or rolled up and carried by the golfer in his pocket or golf bag during play.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessing the features, properties, and the relation of elements which will be exemplified in the article hereinafter described and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a plan view of such a device embodied by my invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view with a portion broken away;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a modification of Fig. 1, with the rear section broken away; and

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are phantom views respectively illus-' trating the back swing of a club, the club at the moment of impact, and the follow-through of the club when the device illustrated is put in use either during practice or during play.

It is well recognized among golfers that, in order to hit a ball straight down the fairway, the club head must Many rules have been devised for golfers to enable them to swing the club head through the proper are .or groove in order properly to hit .the ball from inside the line of flight. For example, golf teachers constantly remind their pupils that deliberately is the word; have weight forward on left foot at impact; stance should be comfortable and natural;; dont fight the .ball; grip firmly, not grimly; frelax-.-take it easy-avoid tight right hand grip; take club back slowly; keep left arm straight at moment of impact; fgrip firmly with left hand, lightly with right hand; dont stiffen the body; -tuck in tail feathers, and a host of other reminders too numerous to mention-all as an aid that the clubhead-passinside the line of flight at the eleventh hour ofthe swing. ltnotonly seems impossible for the beginner, or even the average golfer, to remember such well-intentioned advice whenaddressingthe ball or during the swing, but it is distracting and makes for tension.

It is, therefore, also an object ofthe invention to enablethe golfer to obviate the necessity'for remembering nehrules when; addressing the-ball or during a. swing of the club, by providing a device which will enable him to follow such advice more or less automatically by the constant practice of throwing the club head along the arrow or tail portion of the device, which preferably is white in color, and therefore properly inside the line of flight.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, there is shown a golf tee and practice device indicated generally at 10 preferably comprising an integral unit formed of flexible material having a base 11 adapted to rest upon the ground. An upstanding tee portion 12 is integrally connected to the base to form a ball support. The tee portion 12, like the base, preferably is cast in one piece of flexible rubber. The tee portion is tubular with a very thin wall structure sufiicient firmly to support the ball 13 but very flexible so as to offer little or no resistance when hit by the club simultaneously when the ball is struck.

The ball has an elongated tail 14 extending, from a zone adjacent and symmetrically disposed with respect to the ball support portion 12, in a direction opposite the movement of the club about to hit the ball; and has at least one curved marginal edge 15 defining one edge thereof to indicate an edge of the approximate path over which the club should pass in order properly to drive the ball from the tee.

The base is also provided on the top thereof with visible means, such as a colored line or arrow 16 indicating the approximate line of flight of the ball driven from the tee and also serves to aid in indicating how to orient the tee in the desired direction when placed upon the ground. Also, as shown in Fig. 3, the base may have a pointed projection 17, coaxial with the line of flight indicating means, and extending in the same direction from the base of the tee, as an aid to encourage the golfer to follow through.

Such a device has many advantages in addition to those heretofore indicated, beside the fact that it can be carried around the course after tee shot-s have been made. Constant home use of the device with or without plastic or other practice balls, especially when the device is made from some bright colored material, but preferably white, implants upon the users mind a vision thereof, even when the device is not used. For example, out on the fairway where it is improper or illegal to tee up a ball, constant practice will have implanted a picture of the device in the users mind such that he imagines the device to be present and the ball teed thereon. Therefore, in addressing the ball, he automatically takes the club head back along the base or arrow following the edge 15 and, on the downswing, throws the club head along the same path.

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and different embodiments of the invention could be made Without departing from the scope thereof, it is in tended that all matter contained in the abovedescriphon from the putter through all the irons and woods to attain a grooved swing and adapted to be carried 'by a player on his person during actual play on a golf course and to be used in actual play on said course comprising a tee means, a flat tail piece extending rcarwardly from said tee means and defining a base therefor, said tee means being mounted on and connected to said tail piece, said tail piece being substantially broader at its end remote from said tee means than at its point of beginning adjacent said tee means and terminating at a 4 two spaced points, the one of said spaced points farthest from said player being in coplanar alignment with the axis of said tee means and the line of flight, and the edge of said base nearest said player between the other of said spaced points and said point of beginning being curved and extending partly around the player to define, with said line of flight, an area over which a portion of said club must pass to strike said ball properly from inside said line of flight.

2. A device as defined in claim 1 and further characterized in that said tee is tubular and resilient.

3. A device as defined in claim 1 and further characterized in that said base is resilient.

4. A device as defined in claim 1 and further characterized in that said entire device is of resilient rubber.

5. A device as defined in claim 1, and further characterized in that said line of flight between said tee and said farthest spaced point is clearly indicated by a visible line.

References Cited the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

